Olympics Rio 2016: United States on top, followed by Great Britain and China

The United States of America topped the medal tally with a total count 121 medals while Great Britain finished second with 67 medals and China is on the third position with 70 medals

The Rio Olympics 2016 was officially declared closed by IOC chief Thomas Bach after a colorful closing ceremony at the iconic Maracana. The United States of America topped the medal tally with a total count 121 medals while Great Britain and China finished second and third positions with 67 and 70 medals respectively.

Great Britain has secured second place in the Olympic medal table at the Rio Games after it was confirmed that China could no longer win enough gold medals to overtake them, Great Britons already surpassing their record haul at any Games after surging past the 65 medal count achieved at London 2012.

European countries did well to take the lead in other events such as shooting, fencing, boxing, tennis, wrestling, and golf among others.

Russia kept their number four spot in the rankings. After all the chaos and uncertainty surrounding them, Russia managed 19 Golds, 18 Silver, and 19 Bronze medals which summed to 56 medals while Germany moved to fifth this year. Japan took away 41 medals and moved to number six.

France secured the seventh position with 42 medals. South Korea and Italy finished on number eight and nine, respectively, while Australia narrowly made it to the number 10 spot with 29 medals.

Here is the Rio 2016 Olympics Medals count:

United States’ performance in Rio 2016

Team USA top the medal chart in every category for only the seventh time in Olympic history and the first since 1948, leading all nations with 121 medals, including 46 golds, 37 silvers, and 38 bronzes.

Overall, 213 American athletes contributed to the medal count, including 32 multiple medalists and 13 who won multiple gold medals. Of the 27 sports in which U.S. athletes competed, the U.S. brought home hardware in 20.

“The Rio Games were very special and we’re incredibly happy to be where we are from a results standpoint and celebrating the success of our athletes,” said USOC CEO Scott Blackmun. “These Games will be defined by the inspiring performances of our athletes, the images of them on the podium and the success of the Organizing Committee.”

Making his fifth – and might be his last – Olympic appearance, Michael Phelps further cemented his legacy as the greatest Olympian with five golds and one silver, in Rio 2016. Sharing the spotlight in the pool was teenage phenom Katie Ledecky, who set two world records en route to winning four golds and one silver and became only the second swimmer to sweep the 200-, 400- and 800-meter freestyle titles at single Games. Simone Biles became the first American gymnast to win four golds and a bronze at a single Games, helping Team USA medal in every event for the first time since 1984.

Britain’s performance in Rio 2016

Throughout the 15-day Olympic Games, Britain has only failed to win medals on two of them, with days one and 12 passing without success.

Britain surged past their target of 48 medals with five days left of the Games, and the women’s 4x400m relay bronze on Saturday night saw Team GB claim their 66th medal to beat the London record and confirm that Rio was indeed Great Britain’s most successful ever Olympic Games.

“We’re making sporting history – 67 medals, nearly 130 medallists, across 19 sports,” said Liz Nichol, Uk Sports chief executive. “Even the sporting superpowers haven’t done that in the past, but we are one of those now.”

Great Britain players react with their gold medals after defeating Netherlands in the Women’s Gold Medal Match on Day 14 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on August 19, 2016

China’s performance in Rio 2016

China sent 410 athletes, their biggest team at a foreign Olympics, but by the penultimate day they had won just 24 gold medals, their fewest since Atlanta 1996.

“We agree that winning gold is not the only benchmark, but we also recognize the Olympic motto is faster, higher and stronger after all,” said Liu Peng, China’s sports minister, in Rio on Saturday.

Liu said inexperience particularly had cost China, whose team was young with three-quarters of them competing at their first Olympics. “We have trained these athletes but the training isn’t enough,” he said. “Because when these athletes are facing fierce competition and challenges.”

Fu was the one Chinese swimmer who bucked the gloomy trend and became an overnight sensation. The 20-year-old lit up — and cracked up — the whole nation with her exuberant and at times hilarious answers during post-competition interviews on state television.

In the end, it was once again the Chinese women’s volleyball team that lifted the national spirit and let the world’s most populous country go out with a bang at the Rio Games.

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